Juma Duni Haji (born 26 November 1950) is a Tanzanian politician and former civil servant. He is the Chairperson of ACT Wazalendo. He previously served as the Deputy Chairman of the

Civic United Front The Civic United Front (CUF; , ) is a liberal party in Tanzania. Although nationally based, most of the CUF's support comes from the Zanzibar islands of Unguja and Pemba. The party is a member of Liberal International. History The Civic United ...

from 2014 to 2015. He was selected as the running mate of

Edward Lowassa Edward Ngoyai Lowassa (26 August 1953 – 10 February 2024) was a Tanzanian politician who was Prime Minister of Tanzania from 2005 to 2008, serving under President Jakaya Kikwete.

, the CHADEMA presidential candidate for the

2015 election Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African g ...

, which necessitated his defection.

Early life and career

Duni was born in Kibeni village in Mkwajuni. He was educated at Mkwajuni Primary School (1959–65) and at Gamal Abdel Nassar (present-day Beit el Ras) Secondary School (1966–69). He pursued his A-levels at

Lumumba Secondary School Lumumba Secondary School is a public, coeducational secondary school in Saateni, Zanzibar, Tanzania. It is Zanzibar's largest secondary school, and has been called one of the best secondary schools in Zanzibar. From 1958 until the Zanzibar Revol ...

from 1970 to 1971. He was elected as the chairperson of the

Afro-Shirazi Party The Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) was an African nationalist and socialist Zanzibari political party formed between the mostly Shirazi Shiraz Party and the mostly African Afro Party. In the 1963 Zanzibari general election, the ASP claimed 13 ...

Youth League at Lumumba College. He then joined the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

and graduated with a BSc in education in 1975. After graduation, he was employed as a teacher.

Ismail Jussa Ismail Jussa Ladhu (born 18 August 1971) is a Zanzibari ACT Wazalendo politician serving the Stonetown constituency in the Zanzibar House of Representatives. He also served as a member of the Tanzanian Parliament in 2010 after being nominate ...

was one of his students. In 1978, he left for England to study at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

(advanced diploma) and later joined the Zanzibar Ministry of Education as a planning officer. In 1980, Zanzibari President

Aboud Jumbe Aboud Jumbe Mwinyi (14 June 1920 – 14 August 2016) was the second President of Zanzibar, serving from 1972 to 1984. He held several other positions, including Chairman of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council, Vice-President of the Union of ...

appointed him as the Permanent Secretary of the Planning Ministry and was later promoted as the Executive Secretary of the Planning Commission. He obtained his masters in human resource management from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 1995.

Political career

Following the end of

one-party system A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

in the 1990s, Duni joined the opposition

party. He was the thrice

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

of the party's

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

Ibrahim Lipumba Professor Ibrahim Haruna Lipumba (born 6 June 1952 in Ilolangulu, Tanganyika Territory) is a Tanzanian economist and politician. Early life and career Lipumba was born in Tabora Region in present-day Tanzania. He was educated at the Swedis ...

, in the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

presidential elections. In 1997, he won the Mkunazini by-election to the

Zanzibar House of Representatives The Zanzibar House of Representatives () is the unicameral, subnational legislature of the autonomous islands of Zanzibar in Tanzania. History The current legislature was formed in 1980. Prior to this, the Revolutionary Council held both the ...

(ZHoR). On the last day of the campaign, some opposition supporters were arrested and charged first with

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

and then

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. He too was arrested, and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

designated him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. The Court of Appeal ruled that a treasonous offence cannot be committed "against Zanzibar as tis not a

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

." President

Salmin Amour Salmin Amour (born 1942) is a Tanzanian politician who served as President of Zanzibar from 25 October 1990 to 8 November 2000. He was elected in 1990 as the sole candidate and received 98 percent of the votes. In Tanzania's first multi-party el ...

ordered their release just before the end of his tenure in 2000. In 2009, President

Amani Abeid Karume Amani Abeid Karume (born 1 November 1948) is a Tanzanian politician, the former president of Zanzibar. He held the office from 8 November 2000 to 3 November 2010. He is the son of Zanzibar's first president, Abeid Karume, and a member of the Cham ...

nominated him to the ZHoR. Following the 2010 election, President

Ali Mohamed Shein Ali Mohamed Shein (born 13 March 1948) was the 7th President of Zanzibar, from 2010 to 2020. He was previously Vice President of Tanzania from 2001 to 2010. Shein is originally from the island of Pemba Island, Pemba, and he is a member of the ru ...

appointed him as the Zanzibari Minister for Health, and following a minor cabinet reshuffle in 2014, he was transferred to the Infrastructure and Communications docket. He resigned as Minister in August 2015, following his tactical defection to the opposition CHADEMA party as he was selected as the running mate of former Prime Minister

Edward Lowassa Edward Ngoyai Lowassa (26 August 1953 – 10 February 2024) was a Tanzanian politician who was Prime Minister of Tanzania from 2005 to 2008, serving under President Jakaya Kikwete.

, the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition. CUF Secretary-General

Seif Sharif Hamad Seif Sharif Hamad (22 October 1943 – 17 February 2021) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the First Vice President of Zanzibar and as Party Chairman of ACT Wazalendo. He was the secretary-general of the opposition Civic United Front ...

said that Duni was reluctant to defect.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

CUF Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haji, Juma Duni 1950 births Living people Chadema politicians Members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives Lumumba Secondary School alumni University of Dar es Salaam alumni Alumni of the University of Manchester Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Tanzania Tanzanian prisoners and detainees People acquitted of treason Alliance for Change and Transparency politicians